Machine for making insulating fabric.



iirTED s'rArEs .PATENT OFFICE;

GEORGE 1I. ELLIS, or sfr. PAUL, MINNESOTA," AssIcfNoR,` BY MEsNE .lissrorNMnN'ra To NORTHERN INsULATING COMPANY, .or sT. PAUL, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION or' A MINNESOTA.

'i Speccation of Letters Patent Alipncanon mediteren 2s, 1910. serial Np. 551,ss9.

' MACHINE FUR MAKING INSULATING- FABRIC.

Patented Apr. 9, 191.2.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE. H. ELLIS, a citizen ofthe 'United States, residing at St. Paul, in the countyof Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have inventedvcertain new and useful Improvementsv in Machines for Make ing Insulating Fabric; and Ido hereby declare the. following to be afull, clear and exact description of the invention, such v.as will enable others skilled inv the art vto `which it appertains -to make and1v use lthe Same. A

My invention hasforits obi-ect,l to provide an-- improved machineV for'fcomm'ercialuse'` in economically. making insulating fabric or felt from iiax'or similar fibrous stock.

To the above ends, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations ofA devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

The improved machine is characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view, with some parts sectioned and some parts broken away, showing the improved machine; Figs. 2? and 2b are supplemental views, partly. in side elevation i mergedv in water y contained in a long tank l.A Secured withinthe Atank 1, atv the receiving end portion thereof, is a horizontally extended table 2, that is submerged,

that is, located considerablybelow the sur face of the water y. A. passage 3 is left between the receiving end of the table 2 and thefadjacent end of the tank, for upward return How of the water of the tank, and

this passage 3, is as shown,- overlapped by an oblique stockdelivering board f4 secured to .said tank.

Theestockto be-treated, we will assume, to be dax-which has already been `reduced to a commercialv form'known as'upholsterers tow. S0 fai' as-my .present invention is concerned, this stock may be'delivered onto the receiving end of the table 2 in any suit- `illustrated in the accompanying drawings, `wherein likeV able way, but it is preferablyevenl *fed in a. quite finely subdivided or loose .n crm, by'

-an endless toothed pick-up belt 5- and ,c'oyoperatingtoothed drums or doffers 6 and 7.

jThe lower portion of the belt 5 runs from a `supply hopper'S .and delivers the "librous 4stock p'ast the sur lus rake backdofer. 7 .and tothe feed do er 6. lThe Adoffers 6 and 7 are shown as covered by' a hood 9. As

shown, the belt 5 is arranged to 'run over:

rollers 10 and 11, the shaft of the latter'of f .An inclined endless lifting apron or belt extends from a point below thesurface of the water .gf-and below the delivery end of .the table 2, to a point above the surface of the water, 'and-the delivery end of the tank 1. 'This endless lifting apron is 4madeopen orwith passages through which the water may freely run and, preferably, it is made ;up of transverse slats 15, secured to link belts or chains 16, with the said slats spaced -apart to f )rm water passages .17.. The

which projects andis provided with a drivchains 16 run over` sprockets 18 .on shafts 19 journaled in .suitable bearings -on'lhe'f "sides ofl the tank 1. The upper shaft 119,

which is at t-he delivery end of the tank,

projectsy at one end and is provided with a sprocket'20. Under upward movements', the slats 15 of the lifting apron lpass over inclined skid rails 21 secured to the sides of .the tank.

The 'numeral 22 indicates a deiecting board located in' the `tank 1A below the table 2. p

Working above the. table .2, 'is a multiplicity of toothed carding cylinders or drums 23, the lshafts of which are mounted in suitable bear-ings 24 on 'the sides of the ,tank 1 andare provided, 'attlieir-proj-ecting ends, with pulleys 25 for the obvious pur- -pose of 4driving the same. The shaft bear ,ings 24. maybe secured to the tank in any suitable A.way but, as shown, are adjustably secured to the sides thereof by nut-equipped vertically projecting bolts 26.

The, teeth of the-'carding cylinders 23 cooperate =with fixed teeth, shown as secured to metal plates^28 set into, and: forming a 'part of, the table 2. The teeth of the cylinders 23 and the 4relatively fixed teeth 27 have dull `edges so that they will card but' not cut the ber and, in fact, are constructed very much on the same plan as the teeth of a cylinder and. concave of a threshing machine. cured to the table 2 on the delivery sides of the respective cylinders. The teeth 27, it will be noted, are entirely submerged in the Water, so that carding action ofthe stock takes place below the surface of the water. This process of carding the fibrous stock, while vsubmer ed or below the surface of the water, is disc osed and broadly clalmed 1n my earlier co-pending application, S. N..

550,360, l'ed of date March 19th, 1910, entitled Process of roducing insulating fabric. As more fully set forth in-thesaid process application, the carding under the Water softens and toughens the various parts of the fibrous stock, nely separates -v the fibrous stock without cutting the same into short lengths, and breaks up the shive or woody substance of the stock. The cardin action onthe stock, while it is soaked an softened in the water, serves to-shred and form a fine beard or fuzz on the fibrous bundles, which very thoroughly intertangles and produces a iiufly firmly united but soft substance which increases the insulating eif'lciency of the material. Furthermore, the

'combined carding and drawing action of the carding devices and the solventaction of the water removes the pectose or gummy sub stance from the lber and makes the use of chemicals unnecessary. In the arrangement of thecarding devices, shown in the drawings, the ber'is only once passed to each cylinder and, hence, enough cylinders and coperating fixed teeth should be provided to produce the proper carding action'by the successive operationA of the several carding devices. As shown, hoods 30 are detachably placed over the cylinders 23, The last cyllnder 23 delivers the carded ber onto the submerged receiving portion of the lifting apron 15; and, at this point of delivery, the fiber 'is preferably quite evenly distributed by hand by two'persons, standing one'at each side of the m'achine. The several cylinders 23, rotating in the direction of the arrows marked thereon, keep up a continuous circulation of the water downward through the assages between the slats 15, thence along t e lower .portion of the receiving end of the tank and u 'through the passages 3 again to the sai cylin ers. This vdownward travel of the water through the openings or the lifting `apron serves to eposit the fibrous stock on the said elevating apron;

and it may be here stated that the `said apron, whether made of slats or otherwise,

should be an open apron, that is, an apron provided withwater passages through which the water may. iow downward, as above stated. The flow of the water will be Concave blocks 29 are shown as se-l assages 'in' l more rapid through the thinnest portions of the fibrous sheet deposited on the apron, and, the more rapid the flow of the water at any particular point, the more rapid will be the deposit of liber'. Hence, there is a sort of automatic regulation of the deposit of the fiber which,` in itself, has a tendency to insure a somewhat uniform thickness in -the fibrous sheet.

'The fibrous stock, after it has been deposited on the upwardly moving portionof the apron 15 and after it has been quite evenly distributed or re-arranged thereon, partly by hand and partly by the circulating water, is subjected vto the action of a multiplicity ,of f tampers. These tampers operate successively. on the fibrous sheet as it is being elevated 'from the water, to progressively decrease the thickness and, 1n ai reverse order, uto increase the compactness ofthe fibrous sheet. As shown, there are Afour of these tampers and each comprises a heavy transverse bar 31,` preferably lof wood, the under edges of which are beveled backward and upward inrespect to the direction of the travel of the fibrous sheet .e

on'the lifting apron. The ends of the said v tamping bars 31 are'reduced and are ad# justably secured to the depending ends of i on supporting frames 36gsecured to the sides yof the tank 1. The ends of the said tamp- 111g bars 31 are shown as guided for vertical movements by short vertically ,extended guide channels 37 on the',bearing frames 36..

The first tamping bar 31 is-provided with a supplemental laterally spaced bar 38, spaced .therefrom by blocks 39 and adjustably connested therto by mated bons 40 that work .verse shaftsl 35 Inounted` in suitable bearings through slots 41 (see Figs. 3 and 4). The

lower edge of the supplemental tamping bar 38 is beveled reversely to the bevel of the bar 31 to which itis secured. The tamper actuating shafts 35 are connectedl in pairs jby sprocket chains 42 that 'run over sprockets thereon,^and.one of each of the connected shafts is provided with a pulley 43.

The several tampers are so set that, in

'the direction of the travel of the fibrous sheet, they will progressively reduce the thickness ofthe sheet andcorrespondingly increase the compact'ness thereof. The first or double tamper -3L-38, in virtue of its reversely beveled tamping bars, has'a sort of a gathering action on thestock engaged be;

tween the same. The supplemental tampf;`

ing bar 38 alsoV serves as a sort of a rough gage to approximately indicate when the y tampers 31 have a backward. crowding -vber, rst, in one 4`direction-and, then action on the ibers the ibrous the combined action thereof crowds-th another, and insures *a -thorough gling kof the brousmaterial as well as eveil'-A ness and compactness in the fibrous sheet as it is gra-dually reduced in thickness thereby.

The fibrous sheet, after it has passed-the last tamper, is preferably @passed under a:

heavy squeezing roller 44, held with free' dom for vertical and rotary movements by projections of the bearing frames 36.V Fromthe upper vdelivery portion of the lifting apron, the fibrous sheetlisv passed -beabove the surface of the water, a submerged'- table arranged to d'eliver'the stock onto said apron, carding teeth onsaid table, and a toothed cylinder coperating.- with Vsaid cardingrteeth to card thc stock'below the surface of' the water, sbstantially'as de-` scribed. c

2. In amachne of theldnd described,

.the combination with a watercontainingl tank, of an inclined openapronoperative to carry the stock from a point belowvto'a ,point above the surface of the water,' andfde i vices in the said tank for manipulatingthe stock in the water, including a toothed cyl:v

.back to sai 15nd manned, 'f

v In testimony whereof I alix in presence of ltwo witnesses.

inder and concave which coperaties to tear part .l the stfockbelow the. surface lof fwatenfand which tank is constructedl to afford @a1-continuous -circuit/for the water permltti'ng .the water to be circulated down- 50 lback ltosaid;manipulatingdevices;v including said toothedcylinder and con c ave,' subc ward through v said open apr-oni and thence stantially asdescribed."

A v3..In amachine of thel the 'combination with -a- Water/ containing tank, ofl an inclined open apron v operative to carry the` stock 'from 1a point belowto 'a 'point abovefthe surface of the water, a sb- `merged' table arranged to deliver the stock A 'onto thelOwer endfof vsaid apnon, .carding teeth4` on'lsaid' -table,'. and' a toothed cylinder coperating with' saidfgcard'in teeth tov card the stockA below the surface o the watch-fthe said tank having a. continuous circuitpermitting the A{w'ater to he circulated -downf ward throuhsaid open apron" and thence beating cylinder, substantially als described."` k f fsf ' the'c'ombinatifon with a' Water containing tank,` of an'Y endless openapron. operative to .carry thestock from a point below yto a point above the water; and a multiplicity of I tampers working above said' apronand operative successively. on' the stock 'to pro-" A gressively reduce they-'thickness of the-' liberv sheet',"f the irstj of*` said` talnpers having1 laterally -spacedblades with reversely beveled' stock engaging Ilower edges,- and. the other tampers hav11'1g stock v enf gaging lower edges that are".4 beveled backward 11i-respect to the directimll of the; travel of thestockon said apron.

GEORGE Hfi'iLLIsA signature l 

